Alia
Alia is a third child and is the youngest named third child in the series. Neither her nor her companions Percy and Mattias know their exact age, but Alia guesses that she is around six years old. Appearances: Among The Betrayed,'' Among The Enemy'' Mentioned: Among The Free Fate: Alive Biography Alia was one of the many third children whose parents abandoned them in a specific alley where Samuel, a religious man who believed in peace and freedom, took them in and took care of them and taught them how to live on the streets. It is also said that Samuel made fake ID cards and that he taught all three of them how to make them as well. There were other third children living with Samuel, but the only ones named were Alia, Mattias, and Percy. They all grew up with Samuel in the alley, but they were forced to survive on their own when Samuel was shot and killed at Jen Talbot 's rally. Alia's first appearance in the series was in the book Among The Betrayed when she, as well as Percy and Mattias, were caught making fake ID cards and were sent to prison, where they met Mr. Talbot, a double-agent working against the Population Police, who asked them to help test Nina 's loyalties. After spending several days with her, Alia is convinced that Nina is trustworthy, while Percy and Mattias remain doubtful. When Nina helps the trio escape from prison, it is revealed that was Alia was used to being lookout and had a keen eye for seeing when something was coming. She also proves herself to be smart by cutting the security wire jaggedly instead of straight in order to make it look like rats or mice chewed on them. At one point Nina is discovered by a police officer, but Alia saves her by showing the officer two fake ID cards with their pictures on them. Afterwards she explains how she, Percy, and Mattias had made fake ID cards together before they were caught. Later in the book, when Nina is upset from realizing that they have no food, Alia is the only one of the three who tries to comfort her. Alia appeared again in Among The Enemy as a secondary character. She, Percy, and Mattias are at Niedler School when the Population Police come to take all the children away to work and earn food. Percy and Mattias both tried to think of a way to escape, but it wasn't until they were trapped in the van that Mattias stuck his hand through a hole in the floor and stabbed one of the tires with a nail. The van crashed into a tree, which then fell on top of the vehicle, and many children were injured or even died from the accident. The tree hit Alia badly and she had a bloody knot on her forehead when Percy and Mattias found her and made their escape into the woods. Alia is unconsious for most of the day, only waking up breifly to moan "it hurts". When it begins to get dark Percy and Mattias take turns carrying her as they search for a place of refuge for the night. Eventually they come across a cottage, but it turns out that the cottage was a rebel hide-out and Percy is caught in the crossfire between the rebels and the Population Police, forcing Mattias to take care of both Alia and Percy. Mattias dragged Alia and Percy into the empty cottage, and laid them both down on beds in a secret room he found under the floor boards. Mattias treats their wounds and leaves them with a gas lamp and some food within reaching distance in case they woke up, before leaving the cottage to go find help. After Mattias leaves, rebel reinforcements arrive at the cottage and discover Percy and Alia injured in the secret room. They carry them back into the woods with them and presumably take care of them and try to keep them safe. When Mattias returns with Mrs. Talbot, he spots a rebel man in a tree, who nods at him when Mattias yells for Alia and Percy. The rebel man then makes gestures with his hands, telling Mattias to get out of the way, but Mattias does no understand and is caught in the crossfire between the Population Police and the rebels once again. Alia and Percy travel to Mr. Hendrick's cottage after the crossfire, both believing that Mattias has been killed. They later find out that Mattias had actually saved an officer's life and has been working undercover with Nina at Population Police headquarters. When Mattias returns to Mr. Hendrick's cottage, All three of them embrace eachother, saying "I though you were dead!" back and forth to eachother before collapsing into laughter. Alia does not appear in any of the other books, but she is mentioned in Among The Free when Nina tells Luke that Alia is in Mr. Hendrick's cottage with Percy, as well as other third children who seeked refuge there. Appearance Nina describes her as having light blonde hair, usually in a pony tail. She wears ragged clothes, but some of the rips have beens stitched up, probably by Percy or Mattias. It is not said what color her eyes are, but they appear to be blue on the cover of Among The Betrayed. Category:Shadow Children